quiet lunch meeting spot between SM and Burbank?

I'm meeting a colleague for a lunch meeting on Wed. We are discussing a manuscript in detail so need a very quiet place. He lives in Burbank and I live in Santa Monica, so we were hoping for something in the middle. I suppose Hollywood to the Melrose restaurant row or La Cienega would work but I would love to hear other ideas. It would be nice for it to be a nice (i.e., upscale but not too much so). For example, does AOC do lunch; can one be heard there or is it noisy? The most important factor is that the place offer a venue conducive to discussion.

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